Tom's Crossing

On Wednesday, October 27, Kalin leaves the apartment after telling his mother that he is going camping with two friends. She makes him repeat the only promise she has long required of him: never touch a gun, warning that doing so will cause what he loves most to forsake him. In heavy rain, Kalin reaches Paddock B, where Navidad and Mouse have been moved and face slaughter the next day, and leads them away. At the old miner's shack, he packs supplies onto Mouse, repeatedly mishandles Navidad's saddle, falls and cuts his cheek, then regains control and prepares the horses correctly. Kalin considers easier routes by the Heathen-Slade Canyon Trail and Cutter's Crick Path but rejects them because they leave him too exposed to discovery. He chooses the more dangerous Isatch Canyon route because it offers concealment and is the route he knows best. After changing into dry socks, Tom's old boots, and Tom's white Stetson, Kalin rides toward the canyon. At 6:06 p.m. he encounters Tom on a pale horse. Kalin immediately tells Tom that he is dead and recalls standing at his grave less than two weeks earlier. Tom cannot remember how he arrived or telling Kalin the route to the Crossin, but Kalin remembers it, and Tom accepts that as enough. They enter Isatch Canyon together.

Tom's fifteen-year-old sister Landry has secretly watched him and Kalin ride Navidad and Mouse since spring. After Tom's death, she discovers the horses have been moved into Paddock B, then returns after dark to find them gone. Hoofprints show that someone has taken them out; she plans to follow on Jojo but hides when Russel Porch arrives in Egan's truck and discovers the missing horses. Russel goes to Egan's house, where Orwin 'Old Porch' Porch is winning at poker. Senator Shane Hays calls to report that Senate Bill 1245, connected to Porch's Four Summits plans, has cleared a committee markup on a nine-to-eight vote, with further legislative action still required. Russel reports that Kalin took the two horses into Isatch Canyon. Old Porch dismisses their value and says the person who removed them should be paid ten dollars, but Russel insists on retrieving them. Encouraged and pressured by his father and brothers, Russel reluctantly agrees to ride Egan's intimidating stallion Cavalry. Before leaving, he secretly takes the family's engraved 1873 Colt Peacemaker from Egan's gun cabinet, loads five rounds with the hammer resting over an empty chamber, and conceals it. Egan saddles Cavalry and attaches his own spurs to Russel's boots. Russel sets out alone into the dark and rain.

Russel rides Egan's stallion Cavalry into Isatch Canyon and finds Kalin beside a fire with Navidad and Mouse. Russel threatens Kalin with the stolen Peacemaker, but Kalin refuses to surrender the horses and offers him food. Landry, who has followed Kalin on Jojo, leaps onto Russel and knocks him from Cavalry. Russel injures his head and ribs; Landry takes possession of the gun while Kalin tends to him and retrieves the frightened stallion. The three share food and stories, including Landry's accounts of violence in the canyon. Russel fears returning to his father without the horses. Landry produces a twenty-dollar bill, writes a bill of sale on it, and has Russel sign, arranging for him to report that he acquired the horses on his father's behalf for twice the ten dollars Old Porch had proposed paying. Russel leaves with the money, but Landry refuses to return the loaded Colt that night, promising to return it later. At Egan's house, Old Porch initially praises Russel and wins a wager against Egan. Russel's boast that he could have shot his opponents exposes the missing heirloom gun. When he admits Landry has it, Old Porch assaults and whips him. Russel falls onto the broken base of a drinking glass that Old Porch had earlier thrown, which pierces his neck. Old Porch pulls the glass out, causing fatal bleeding. Billings organizes cleaning and concealment; the Porches arrange Russel and Cavalry to suggest a different cause for his injuries. At 9:58 p.m., Old Porch calls police and falsely claims that horse thieves killed his son.

After Russel rides away, Kalin breaks camp because Russel and Landry found him so easily and the Porches may pursue him. Landry insists on accompanying Kalin despite his warnings about the danger, and proves capable of helping repack the horses. Tom, whom only Kalin can see, urges him to send her home. They move farther into Isatch Canyon at night, with Kalin sometimes riding Navidad because leading both her and Mouse on foot is unsafe. Tom draws a burning brand that Kalin can perceive, although its strange light does not reveal the trail in an ordinary way. They pass the Gate of the Mountain, the fourth of nine gates, and reach a sheltered recess containing firewood and an old fallen elm. Landry helps settle the horses and records events in her journal. Kalin plans to guide her back at first light, and Tom advises that she return Old Porch's Colt. Tom admits that he feels out of place among the living and cannot remember his death or the route to the Crossin, although he remembers Landry. Kalin laughs with Tom, while Landry, unable to see Tom, eventually joins in. Later that night, a large white owl lands on the fallen elm. Kalin and Landry take comfort in its presence, but Tom reacts with unease. The chapter closes with Kalin disturbed that his dead friend appears afraid.

Working late at Rome University Theaters, Allison March worries about Kalin's departure and uses breathing exercises to steady herself. Her young coworker Teri Casper asks about him and reveals that Kalin was close to Tom Gatestone, who died of cancer on October 7. Teri heard from a relative that Kalin was devastated at Tom's funeral and had visited him in the hospital. Allison had known nothing of the friendship or his grief. Teri explains that Tom was an accomplished horseman and that their friendship may have involved horses. Allison then regrets invoking the warning that Kalin must never touch a gun: she herself invented the supposed curse when Kalin was ten to prevent his abusive, dishonest father, Connor Mayhew, from exploiting the boy's aptitude with guns. Fearing that horses and firearms may be connected to his disappearance, Allison finishes cleaning. Her manager Clyde Hill tells her police have come to see her. At 11:43 p.m., Officer Poulter says Kalin is in Isatch Canyon, is suspected of stealing horses, and allegedly killed a boy by cutting his throat. Poulter claims multiple witnesses. Allison does not accept the allegation, says her son would not cut anyone's throat, and challenges the account's accuracy.

Before dawn on Thursday, Kalin wakes cold and nearly sick while Tom remains unaffected by the cold and rain and describes a disturbing dream in which hidden wounds surfaced across his body. Kalin revives the fire, gives Landry most of the breakfast, and continues to prioritize the horses' feed and care over his own food. He and Landry protect Navidad and Mouse's hooves with cardboard and duct tape, while Landry has Easyboots for Jojo. After they break camp, a blocked side path forces them briefly onto the main canyon trail. Kalin tells Landry she may accompany him only as long as she can manage herself and Jojo, and her riding demonstrates that she can.

After crossing the creek near Misdemeanors and climbing toward Aster Scree, Kalin finally tells Landry that the person she has seen him talking to is Tom. Landry cannot see her dead brother and doubts Kalin, but Kalin relays details from Tom about Ash, also called Chubasco, and Gatestone family memories. At the base of the scree, Kalin unloads Mouse and prepares to move the supplies in stages. He rides Navidad up the unstable slope twice. Landry tries to follow on Jojo, but Jojo resists the footing and begins sliding backward when she pushes farther. After seeing Kalin make the ascent twice, Landry accepts that she and Jojo cannot safely continue and prepares to return home.

Before they separate, Landry offers Kalin the Porch Colt. He refuses to touch it and verbally guides her through checking the cylinder, confirming five loaded chambers and returning the hammer over the empty chamber. Kalin then makes the third ascent on Mouse. The climb nearly fails twice: Mouse loses ground on the scree, then almost falls backward when his front hooves slip at the upper ledge, but he recovers and reaches the top. Kalin checks both horses, repacks Mouse, and later uses binoculars to confirm that Landry and Jojo have safely emerged from the creek route. He and Tom then see numerous police lights at the canyon entrance and worry that Landry may encounter the police while carrying the Colt.

After Officer Poulter's late-night questioning, Allison drives to Isatch Canyon shortly after midnight. She finds no police there because the search has been diverted by a mistaken horse sighting, becomes overwhelmed by the dark canyon, and returns home. Before dawn, Detective Peters calls her. Allison answers his questions, but when he will not give her details about the investigation, she hangs up. At 7:32 a.m. she goes to Orvop High intending to ask Principal Furst about Kalin, but decides the school can only confirm that he is absent. At the nearby Meaai Lelei restaurant, she overhears three students discussing Russel Porch's death and the rumor that an Orvop High student named "Keelin" killed him. Allison identifies herself as Kalin's mother and asks about the Porch family.

At Porch Meats, Allison sees Billings loading horses and is approached by Kelly Porch. She gives Kelly her name and phone number, explains that she is the mother of the boy accused of killing Russel, and asks to speak with Old Porch. She then goes to the police station intending to find Detective Peters, unknowingly passes him outside, and reaches a pay phone without finding anyone she can bring herself to call. Throughout these stops she repeatedly has to resist her longstanding impulse to flee confrontation.

Allison returns to Isatch Canyon and, by the gate, meets Old Porch and his Rottweiler, Mr. Bucket #5. They initially do not know each other's identities. After Old Porch says Russel was his youngest son, Allison identifies herself and says Kalin would not have killed him. She offers to help find the person responsible and stand with Old Porch through a trial. Old Porch instead claims that Russel came home covered in blood and named Kalin as his killer after catching him stealing the horses. He says some of his sons are already in the canyon to make right what happened and warns Allison that when Kalin is found, he will have no life left to live. The confrontation ends at 10:04 a.m.

After Russel's death, Old Porch, Egan, Kelly, and Billings maintain their fabricated account of his return with a cut throat. Egan and Billings leave to find Trent Riddle, who saw Russel return from the canyon without that wound and could contradict their story, but Riddle is missing. Egan recalls how Old Porch murdered Brad P. Hone years earlier and staged a fatal car accident, and how Old Porch later entrusted him with the family Colt while withholding its promised inheritance. After police pursue a mistaken horse sighting, Old Porch orders his sons to recover Navidad and Mouse. Egan rides Cavalry into Isatch Canyon with Kelly on Barracuda and Billings on Gads, armed and with Old Porch's approval. Sean and Shelly later enter the canyon illegally on dirt bikes.

Returning from Aster Scree, Landry finds Egan, Kelly, and Billings blocking the flooded second bridge at 10:17 a.m. Egan tells her Russel is dead and accuses Kalin of cutting his throat. Landry disbelieves him, says Russel sold her the horses, and refuses to hand over the Colt except to Old Porch. Afraid of the riders, she turns Jojo around and races back toward Kalin. Watching from above, Kalin notices her return and her attempt to conceal her route from pursuers. He descends Aster Scree on foot with a rope and marks its stable turning points using asters. Landry and Jojo reach him, but Jojo refuses to let Kalin ride him up the scree. Kalin instead coaches Landry through the dangerous zigzag ascent while climbing alongside her and using Jojo's aversion to him to keep the horse moving. She and Jojo reach the upper ledge; a stone wedged in Jojo's hoof proves not to have injured him. With the storm intensifying, they cannot safely descend again.

Billings discovers Landry's false trail, and the pursuers reach the scree at 11:27 a.m. Landry exposes their position by calling insults down at Egan. Egan fires first, followed by Kelly, Sean, and Shelly, while Kalin and Landry take cover. After Kalin studies them through binoculars, Billings recognizes that the asters mark a route up the shifting stones. Egan rides Cavalry up the scree and into the flooded upper fissure, spurring him despite his distress. Cavalry loses momentum, strikes the rock wall, and falls backward, breaking his leg and spine. Egan shoots Cavalry to end his suffering. He then fires a different, unmarked 9mm pistol into the dead horse's chest and, with Billings's help, forces blood from the wound to support his false claim that Kalin shot Cavalry first. Billings corroborates the lie, which spreads through the police investigation, while the Porches leave the canyon.

Kalin, Landry, Tom, and the horses continue upward and eastward toward the hoped-for shelter near Altar Lake, but heavy rain and unsafe footing stop them at the first of several additional screes. At 3:09 p.m. they turn back toward an alternate westward traverse and meet a large bull elk near the trail junction. As they ride onward above steep drops, Tom becomes increasingly subdued and tells Kalin how deeply he loves Landry. Kalin chooses to keep the horses moving rather than camp in exposed, cold conditions. Tom falls farther behind until Kalin can no longer see him through the storm. Lightning and thunder close in, and Navidad rears almost vertically on the narrow path. Kalin remains still, allowing her to regain her footing without falling from the mountainside.

At 7:33 p.m., Old Porch arrives at Sondra Gatestone's house with Egan and announces that Russel has been killed. They falsely blame Kalin, claim he stole Porch horses and shot Cavalry, and insist he has kidnapped Landry. Sondra refuses to let Egan enter, challenges his claim after he denies seeing Jojo, and orders both men away. The confrontation revives her memory of Landry once returning shaken from a ride with Egan, with an unexplained bruise on her arm. Old Porch's professed concern conceals his determination to blame Kalin for the consequences of his own actions, including what he expects will happen to Trent Riddle. Allison March, whom Sondra had welcomed earlier, has been listening from the kitchen.

After the Porches leave, Sondra serves Allison tea and cake. Both women reject the accusation that Kalin kidnapped Landry. Sondra explains that Landry has long admired Kalin and that Tom and Kalin became close through riding horses. Allison recalls Kalin's childhood: he first learned to ride near their home in Colorado, but his father, Connor Mayhew, wanted to exploit his remarkable skill with firearms for money. At ten, Kalin repeatedly shot playing cards thrown into the air, even splitting one in half. Allison had warned him that shooting would make the horses reject him; after the shots frightened several ponies, they did shun him for nearly a year. Kalin refused to touch a gun again, and Connor's anger at losing a lucrative wager led to violence against Allison and Kalin. They fled, and Connor was eventually imprisoned for killing a police officer. Allison insists that Kalin carries no gun and would never hurt a horse. She also explains her struggle with alcohol and her fears about Kalin repeating his father's violence.

Sondra tells Allison that she and her late husband Dallin adopted Landry, who was born in Samoa, when she was nearly six. She describes Tom's dying request: if Navidad and Mouse were moved from Porch's Paddock A to Paddock B, where horses faced slaughter, Kalin was to take them to the Crossing and release them. Landry likely followed Kalin with Jojo because she loved Tom and wanted to help honor his wish. Neither mother knows where the Crossing is. Sondra also recounts the long conflict between the Porches and the Gatestones, involving land, horses, property damage, violence, and the Gatestones' use of wealth and legal influence. Their discussion makes clear why Old Porch's accusation threatens Kalin as well as Landry.

At 10:33 p.m., the women step onto Sondra's back porch and look toward Isatch Canyon. Sondra explains that the dangerous terrain and another approaching storm prevent them from simply riding in to retrieve the children. She has already contacted police repeatedly and called Child Services herself, anticipating that Old Porch might allege neglect or kidnapping. She promises that Kalin is considered part of the Gatestone family, but then voices her deeper fear: Old Porch's visit was a warning that Landry might never return and that he intends to make Kalin take the blame. Allison and Sondra acknowledge that they now face the danger together.

After the storm forces Kalin, Landry, and their horses back toward the canyon entrance, Kalin finds shelter in the Awides Mine but is distraught because Tom and Ash have disappeared. He blindfolds Navidad, Mouse, and Jojo and leads them through a low, dark entrance into a chamber, blocking a passage that leads to a deep shaft. The children groom and feed the horses, use broken furniture for firewood, and recover from the cold with cocoa and a meal. Landry notices severe rope burns on Kalin's left palm and brings him ice. As they talk about horses, friendship, and Tom's death, Kalin explains that his riding depends on listening to horses rather than forcing them. He repeatedly leaves the shelter to look for Tom.

When Tom finally reappears outside, he explains that increasing distance from Navidad and Mouse left him and Ash unable to move normally or remember who and where they were. Tom also sees frightening presences invisible to Kalin, especially by the light of his supernatural torch. Landry then tells Kalin that Egan accused them of killing Russel by cutting his throat, an accusation they both know is false. Kalin consults Tom, but Tom cannot explain Russel's alleged death. Kalin admits that he found the Awides after hearing stories that it was haunted; Tom is terrified of what waits inside. Landry demands that her brother join them anyway and tells him she misses him. Tom and Ash enter, and Tom draws his burning brand. Its light reveals to Kalin the reason for Tom's fear, which the next chapter explores.

On Thursday night in the Awides Mine, Landry falls asleep and later recalls nightmares of being lost underground with Jojo. Tom's torch exposes a transformed, seemingly limitless realm containing an elm, black water, an arched passage, and crowds of the dead. Tom and Kalin protect the living horses from these presences. Pia Isan, an Indigenous woman whom Tom can see and hear, offers communication with the dead and says Kalin's mother is present. The proposed bargain initially involves the horses as sacrifices, which Kalin refuses. Tom nevertheless makes a promise to take Pia Isan to the Crossin and secure her freedom when the horses are freed. His torch reignites violet. In return, if Navidad and Mouse do not reach the Crossin, Tom will remain bound to this place. Among those who appear are figures associated with the Gatestone-Porch feud and Indigenous dispossession, Tom's father Dallin and brother Evan, and people seeking messages conveyed to the living.

A presence Tom calls the Future declares that if the children and horses cross the journey's highest elevation that day and depart the mine before dawn, they can reach the Crossin unhindered; if delayed until sunlight reaches their route, the mountain will oppose them. Tom also sees Bayson Riggs and his family, who are alive at this point but will die in a December 1984 collision, suggesting that this realm is not restricted to people already dead. Kalin sees no Russel Porch, which proves nothing about Russel's fate. The Future shows both boys their mothers in disturbing apparently dead states, but the narrative does not establish these visions as present deaths. Tom briefly mistakes an image of Landry's corpse for his sister before Kalin shows him she is still alive. By morning Kalin recalls little beyond dread. He revives their smoky fire, cares for the horses, and wakes Landry early. She recounts a dream of a goat swimming through icy water. Kalin explains their proposed route toward Mist Falls, Bewilder Crick, and Altar Lake but omits greater dangers beyond. When Landry draws the Porch Colt and proposes hunting, Kalin recoils and reveals his mother's alleged curse: touching a gun will cause horses to abandon him. They finish packing and leave the chamber, but outside discover that the mountain paths have become coated in ice. Kalin throws two rocks onto the trail and watches both slide off the cliffs. They cannot proceed.

On Friday, Sondra Gatestone and Allison March search Isatch Canyon from Tucker Wyatt's small plane, but the freezing conditions, avalanches, and difficult terrain prevent them from spotting the children. The children, in turn, see the aircraft from near the Awides Mine without realizing their mothers are aboard. Sondra takes Allison to Orvop Police Chief Wilson Beckham, who advises legal counsel and acknowledges that Landry's voluntary presence complicates the Porches' allegations. They retain attorney Holly Feltzman, who intends to protect both minors from a violent arrest. At the closed canyon entrance, Sondra challenges Undersheriff Conrad Jewell, Old Porch's brother-in-law, and Park Ranger Emily Brickey about the search and the sound of ATVs. Brickey's response confirms that the vehicles are not being operated by law enforcement.

Earlier, Jewell had agreed to let armed Egan Porch, Kelly Porch, and Billings Gale enter the closed park on their ATVs despite Brickey's objection, while insisting that any children found should be rescued and taken alive. A law-enforcement team including Bren Kelson and Corbet Wadley attempts the blocked Aster Scree route, but Wadley sprains his ankle and Kelson is ordered back. The mothers continue pressing officials and prepare to keep vigil at the entrance; Chief Beckham later says he has restricted Jewell to logistical work and ordered the Porches out. Meanwhile Old Porch publicly portrays himself as the grieving father of a murdered boy while privately worrying that missing poker witness Trent Riddle can contradict the family's false story. He tries to discredit Riddle to Detective Peters and uses Russel's death to promote Senate Bill 1245, which is scheduled for a future floor vote rather than already passed. In the late afternoon, medical examiner Annabelle Kasey discovers two crystal fragments in Russel's neck wound and concludes that the injury was not made by a knife, materially contradicting the account promoted by the Porches.

On Friday the children wait near the Awides Mine while the sun and warming air gradually loosen the ice coating the trails. Landry discovers an upper mine opening with a view of the police gathering below, and she and Kalin see a small plane without knowing their mothers are aboard. Kalin shows surprising dexterity with a farrier's hammer and says his father taught him the trick; Landry bandages his damaged left hand. At 11:11 a.m. the ice has thawed enough for the horses to leave the mine. Landry briefly freezes with fear on the narrow traverse and Jojo slips once, but they return to the T above Aster Scree. Kalin offers to help Landry descend toward home, while Tom urges her to go, but she chooses to accompany Kalin and the horses onward. Below, Egan, Kelly, and Billings search on ATVs, unsuccessfully looking for bodies and another route.

Higher on the canyon wall, Tom says Pia Isan is traveling with them and confirms that failure to free Navidad and Mouse will bind him to her. Landry identifies Pia Isan as the wife of Pareyarts, or Old Elk, and Tom relates her history with Alfred Gatestone, Garrison Porch, and Wild Bill Hickman. As they cross the first seven screes, Tom recounts Ash's life and the horse's attachment to him. Ash's memories raise doubt about the official claim that Ash fatally kicked Dallin Gatestone, although they do not establish what killed Dallin. The eighth scree proves passable, but the ninth has been drastically rearranged and is too unstable to ride. Landry ties together the available ropes and leads, crosses first toward an ash tree, and survives when the tree begins sliding and pulls against Mouse. She returns with a safer rope arrangement and gets Jojo and then Mouse across while Kalin remains with Navidad. In the process some supplies fall from Mouse's packsaddle. When Landry attempts to cross back again, fresh sliding rock forces her to retreat. Rifle shots strike near Kalin from across the canyon. He rides Navidad uphill into the dust thrown up by the collapsing scree, then turns and rides onto the shifting slope while Tom follows. The chapter ends with Kalin and Navidad still attempting the crossing, not safely reunited with Landry.

From Agoneeya, Egan, Kelly, and Billings watch the Ninth Scree collapse beneath Kalin and Navidad. Although the fall looks fatal, Kalin guides Navidad down the moving rock to safety and rejoins Landry, Jojo, and Mouse. The pursuers mistake the surviving riders' position and later spread the claim that Landry and Kalin have been buried. Kalin sees the three men withdrawing through his binoculars. Tom, however, remains unable to cross the newly disturbed scree with Ash. Kalin returns toward him with rope and refuses to abandon him; after the living horses neigh, Ash finds a way across, and Tom follows with the unseen dead. A further immense collapse seals the route behind them and convinces observers below that the children have died. Emergency personnel prepare to search for bodies as the storm resumes.

Back at the Porch house, Old Porch gathers his sons and receives Hatch, his eldest, who has come from Texas. Hatch questions the shifting accounts of Russel's death, the theft of the horses, the gunfire, and the rockfall. Kelly and Egan contradict each other, while Billings studies the mountain and proposes that Kalin and Landry may still be alive in a high cirque beyond the slide. Hatch considers a route to investigate, and Billings finally voices a further concern: someone else may be accompanying the children.

On the day after the rockfall, Sondra Gatestone and Allison March refuse to accept reports that their children have died without bodies. At Sondra's home, they discuss Tom and Evan, their sons' friendship, the horses, and the mountain. Sondra shows Allison Dallin's maps and equipment; together they consider the route Kalin and Landry might have taken and where the horses could be released. Their conversations also expose earlier family losses and their different responses to fear and uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Kalin leads Landry and the horses past a concealed entrance and toward Kirk's Cirque, a remote place he knows from Tom. Landry talks about writing down their experiences and asks Kalin about his life, riding, his father, and Tom. The weather makes shelter and a fire difficult; they finally kindle one using paper from Landry's writing, sparing pages about her family. Tom and Ash remain with them, but Kalin sees other spectral presences following, and Tom appears increasingly unsettled by what he perceives. Around the fire, Landry speaks to Tom through Kalin, confronts the limits of the proposed freedom for the horses, and learns more about Kalin's promise to his mother never to touch a gun. The friends settle in for the night as Tom whistles, audible to Kalin but not to Landry.

Early Saturday, Old Porch expects Senate Bill 1245 to advance his proposed mountain development. Senator Hays tells him that the bill will not receive the vote he expected, imperiling his financing and plans. The flooded canyon also obstructs the effort to recover the supposed bodies of Kalin and Landry. Back at the house, Old Porch takes out his anger on his sons, violently attacking Shelly, before Hatch reports on reconnaissance of routes to the high cirque. Hatch then brings the brothers to the Erville Family Mortuary to see Russel.

The wider town increasingly treats Kalin as Russel's murderer, although classmates find the alleged involvement of Landry difficult to reconcile with what they know of her. Detective Peters continues looking for the missing Trent Riddle. Billings encounters him at Riddle's apartment and agrees to provide a police statement; privately, Billings had come prepared to lure and kill Riddle if necessary, because Riddle could contradict the Porches' account. As the investigation continues, the crystal fragments collected during Russel's autopsy enter evidence amid handling later challenged in court.

At the mortuary, the Porch sons gather around Russel's body. Old Porch is preoccupied with the loss of his development scheme and with asserting control over his surviving sons. He exposes Russel's neck wound, interprets it as proof of Kalin's guilt, and demands that his sons ensure Russel's killers are dead, although some believe that the rockfall already killed them. After setting Russel's funeral for Monday, Old Porch telephones Kevin Moffet to ask whether the helicopter is ready.

On Saturday morning in Kirk's Cirque, Kalin revives their dying fire while Tom grows increasingly uneasy about the dead following them and the danger ahead. Kalin prevents Landry from being bitten by a rattlesnake. He scouts the swollen stream and approaches to their refuge, then works to prepare the horses and their gear for a difficult departure, including fitting traction studs to hooves and cutting a rain covering for Landry. He and Landry talk about their families, past fears, and the difficulty of choosing a route while being hunted. Kalin suffers growing abdominal pain and weakness, initially without understanding the cause. Landry climbs above the cirque to watch the approaches and reports that the rockfall will delay anyone pursuing them.

At midday a helicopter reaches the cirque. Its pilot maneuvers close enough for passenger Old Porch to see Kalin and Landry alive. Old Porch mockingly points his hand at Kalin as though firing a pistol. Landry flees toward camp with the horses, and the helicopter follows briefly without attacking. After it departs, Landry reaches for the gun in her bag, fearing an armed return; Kalin insists they leave rather than fight. His illness worsens into vomiting and diarrhea, and he realizes their Dorf jerky has spoiled. He orders Landry to burn it, leaving them without food.

On Saturday morning, Sondra searches Landry's room and the Gatestone stable. Her missing diary, coats, boots, tack, and Jojo reassure Sondra that Landry planned for the journey, though they cannot establish that she survived. The women try to enter Isatch Canyon but are refused because of flooding and unstable trails. At the entrance they appeal to reporters and volunteers to question the accusation that Kalin murdered Russel Porch and kidnapped Landry. Later, Allison's lawyer Holly Feltzman confirms that she has requested police and autopsy records and is looking for Trent Riddle, the missing Porch Meats employee who was at Egan's house the night Russel died.

Sondra and Allison trace Russel's likely ride toward Egan's neighborhood, find that police have not canvassed the homes, and speak to Dorothy Bray. Dorothy saw Russel ride past on Cavalry on Wednesday night but did not see him return. Her absent husband George might know more. At Egan's house, the women challenge the Porch account. Sondra falsely claims that neighbors saw Russel return alive and uninjured, suggesting that something happened to him at Egan's house. Egan threatens her with an ax handle, but Hatch intervenes. As they leave, Sondra also bluffs that they are about to meet Trent Riddle. Allison notices Kelly's alarmed glances toward Billings at the mention of neighbors and Riddle. Back at the stable, Allison finds a photograph of Tom and Kalin concealing a carved heart inscribed LG + KM.

At the airport, Sondra learns that Tucker Wyatt's airplane needs repairs and cannot fly. Old Porch has just returned with helicopter pilot Kevin Moffet, who saw Kalin, Landry, and the horses alive in Kirk's Cirque but says nothing to the mothers. Old Porch lies that the aerial search found only rockfall. Allison warns him about Kalin's capacity to survive, and Sondra repeats her bluff about Russel's return. Alarmed, Old Porch calls Egan, reveals the children's location, and orders him to reach them; when the helicopter becomes unavailable for another flight, he presses Egan to act without him. He also orders Woolsey and Francis to question Egan's neighbors and resolves to deal with Riddle himself. At Porch Meats, increasingly threatened by the possibility of exposure, Old Porch leads his longtime mule Effy into the slaughterhouse at 4:04 p.m., intending to kill and destroy her.

Egan, Kelly, Billings, and Hatch take ATVs toward Kirk’s Cirque. Near Aster Scree they encounter Park Ranger Emily Brickey, Law Enforcement Ranger Bren Kelson, and deputies led by Doyle Cannon. Cannon mistakenly believes they are outside the closed park and welcomes the Porches into the official search party. Egan fears the officers will interfere with his plans. Hatch races across the Seventh Scree and disregards a disturbing apparition.

Meanwhile, Kalin suffers violent food poisoning from Dorf jerky, beginning at 1:41 p.m. Landry prepares mint tea and keeps him hydrated while Tom's apparent absence alarms her. Kalin eventually improves, bathes in Altar Lake, and experiences visions of improbable animals. Landry discovers a forgotten portion of her mother's orange cake in her sleeve and shares it with him. They discuss Russel's earlier peaceful departure and speculate about his death without finding an explanation.

At 4:26 p.m. a white mule appears. Landry subsequently sees the pursuing Porches approaching the cirque on ATVs, with the official search party behind them. The children abandon their plan to rest, pack up and ride toward the Upecksay Headwall. Landry is horrified that Kalin intends to ascend exposed ledges with horses, rather than enter a hidden passage. As their pursuers arrive, they begin the ascent. At 4:54 p.m. they are roughly seventy feet above the base, and Tom remembers having told Kalin about the route before he died.

Saturday afternoon, the canyon reopens to volunteers. Allison tries to reach the upper search area on foot but is slowed by pain and gets a ride to the huge rockfall. After seeing the devastation, she recognizes that she cannot safely reach Kirk's Cirque. Back at the entrance, Sondra and Allison confront Undersheriff Jewell over the Porch party accompanying the official search. Jewell shows them a torn sleeping bag bearing Tom's name and Landry's damaged pink raincoat, which have been recovered from the slide. Neither item proves the children's deaths, but the discovery leaves both mothers fearing the worst and strains their new friendship. Meanwhile, the crystal fragments recovered from Russel's neck are mistakenly filed under another case in the evidence room. Old Porch has already killed and incinerated his longtime mule Effy. Detective Peters then visits; Old Porch fears that the missing witness Trent Riddle has surfaced and considers attacking him, but Peters instead reveals that Riddle died in a car crash, greatly relieving Old Porch.

On the Upecksay Headwall, Kalin guides the horses upward through exposed switchbacks, pausing in three rocky refuges. Landry struggles with fear as the route becomes increasingly dangerous. Kalin rides Mouse across the hardest stretch, where the horse changes leads during the ascent and makes a sharp turn onto safer ground. Jojo and the mysterious white mule follow, but Navidad remains with Landry. Kalin returns to help, and after seeing the danger from below, Landry hesitates to cross the final section on foot. She asks whether Kalin would accept an invitation to a school dance, and his answer helps her proceed. When a rock shifts under her foot near the final turn, Tom catches her wrist, with Pia Isan apparently supporting him. Landry reaches the summit ridge and rejoins Mouse, Jojo, and the mule, but Kalin and Navidad remain behind.

Below, Egan and Billings fail to locate a traversable route up the headwall. At 6:06 p.m., Egan shoots Law Enforcement Ranger Bren Kelson in the back of the head, fires additional shots, and falsely blames Kalin. When Kelson is found still breathing, Billings suffocates him with a plastic bag, then conceals it. Egan lies to Park Ranger Brickey and Kelly that Kelson remains alive; Kelly carries Kelson's body downhill on his ATV while Brickey follows. Hatch, positioned elsewhere with a powerful rifle, later spots Kalin and Navidad on the cliff. He fires to stop their passage, causing Navidad to recoil; Kalin takes shelter with her in the third refuge. Egan joins Hatch and fires additional shots, but the storm eventually obscures the wall, forcing the brothers to withdraw.

As night and snow intensify, Kalin refuses Tom's suggestion to leave Navidad and save himself. Tom recounts how Mouse once defended Navidad against another horse. A message passed through Pia Isan and other unseen presences promises light. Kalin prepares Navidad, and the clouds briefly open to reveal unusually bright moonlight. He sees an immense procession of human and animal spirits, which Tom says is following Navidad and Mouse. Kalin and Navidad advance across the exposed final stretch. The chapter ends as Navidad completes the necessary lead change and rises onto the last turning point. Their completed passage to the summit is not yet established.

Late Saturday night, Allison follows Sondra, who drives aimlessly before leaving her dog and winter clothes at home and speeding into Orvop Canyon. Allison runs out of gas near Deer Creek Reservoir and follows Sondra's footprints to the river, where Sondra is filling her dress pockets with stones and intends to enter the water. Allison gives her a Nightmare Stone and recalls Old Porch's unusually precise description of Kalin after the helicopter search. Her suggestion that Old Porch must have seen Kalin and Landry alive restores Sondra's hope, and the women leave to investigate.

Back at the Isatch Canyon command tent, the Porches arrive carrying Bren Kelson's body. Kelly and Egan perform futile resuscitation until EMTs pronounce the ranger dead, likely for some time. Egan falsely claims that Kalin also shot Landry. Hatch admits firing his .50-caliber rifle and seeing Kalin on horseback high on the Upecksay Headwall, but officials discount the height and accept Kelly's false account placing Kalin at the base. Hatch does not disclose that he watched Landry reach the summit. At the Porch house, Egan admits inventing her death, while Old Porch determines that the children likely crossed Katanogos and directs the pursuit toward the mountain's far side. In private, Egan gives his father the pistol and spent casings associated with Kelson's murder. Billings hides his bloodied plastic bag in the household garbage. Hatch struggles with his family's conduct and resolves to recover the children alive.

Earlier that night, Navidad changes the planned direction of her final turn on the headwall and reaches the summit with Kalin just as the turning platform collapses behind them. They find Landry's shelter and fire among the limber pines. Landry has burned her father's diary and her brothers' writings to keep the fire alive. She feeds and warms the exhausted Kalin, cares for Navidad, and gathers more wood through the storm. With their food exhausted, the two huddle beside the horses to survive the freezing night. Their wet log eventually catches fire, and they sleep against Navidad with the horses and supernatural presences surrounding them. Meanwhile, the mothers learn the new false allegation that Kalin killed Landry and refuse to accept it.

Before dawn, Kalin follows Tom back to the summit, where the ghost's brand shines intensely and his voice and apparent knowledge change. Tom claims to perceive past generations and possible futures, warns that Kalin will face a choice involving the object in his saddlebag, and delivers an extended, unsettling vision of the land, faith, violence, and responsibility. Afterward Tom cannot remember what he said. Kalin finds the supply cache he had previously hidden below the summit, and he and Landry finally eat, feed the horses, and share hot chocolate. They discuss Tom's revelations and the route through Coyote Gulch and Pillars Meadow to two old gateposts marking the Crossing between protected and unprotected land. Landry reminds Kalin that their pursuers can approach on snowmobiles. A police plane surveys Kirk's Cirque but does not discover their camp.

The group descends the snowy back side of Katanogos, navigating hazardous slopes and a forest filled with seemingly impossible gatherings of animals. Landry and Tom briefly sing and whistle the same song together. After reaching a clearing, Landry climbs to an elevated viewpoint with binoculars and spots the Porches approaching on snowmobiles behind Agoneeya. She identifies Hatch and then Egan, but fails to place the improvised mesh covers over her binocular lenses. Kalin recognizes the exposure too late and shouts a warning. Landry is struck amid a burst of blood, followed by the sound of a rifle shot, at 10:38 a.m. The chapter does not identify the shooter or establish her ultimate condition.

In 2000, Houston gallery owner Cal Carneros hosts the one-night Pillars Meadow Show, an exhibition assembled largely by people connected to the 1982 events. Its five chambers move chronologically through the children’s journey, mixing amateur art, songs, memories, and reconstructed objects. As Cal, Shasta Roulette, and Rico G. move through the rooms, they gradually stop treating the material as quaint folk art and recognize the violence, fear, and loss behind it. Rico realizes that Billings Gale may be his half brother. The next day Cal decides the show should continue, but the Time Gallery burns on the night of March 1, destroying the displayed works. In 2031, an exhibit in New Hampshire called Untoppled Pillars digitally reconstructs many of the lost pieces and makes the ghost of Tom Gatestone much more explicit. An unnamed, extremely old woman guides Cal through part of the exhibit. Near the end of his life, Cal continues to remember both real and possibly imagined works from the destroyed show.

On Sunday morning in 1982, Allison March accompanies Sondra Gatestone to a Grandview church service. Everett Walsh speaks about Cain, Abel, and the Mark of Cain in a way that some listeners connect to Kalin, while Havril Enos preaches about judgment, repentance, and salvation. Allison privately decides that whatever Kalin has done, she will accept, forgive, and continue to claim him as her son. Sondra instead breaks down and leaves the service, telling Allison she cannot bear losing all her children. Outside, Darren Blicker throws a rock-and-ice-packed snowball that knocks Allison down, then strikes Sondra in the face. Other teenagers join what becomes a one-sided barrage. Allison gets back up and knocks aside another projectile, and both women refuse to retreat until adults intervene and stop the attack.

Earlier that morning, Old Porch receives calls from federal and state political contacts confirming that, although Senate Bill 1245 will not pass, enough federal, state, and private land is being made available for the Four Summits project to proceed. He tells Shelly, Sean, Woolsey, and Francis that the family is about to become wealthy and initially proposes church, then changes course and orders them to gather weapons for a helicopter trip. He also considers using the 9mm pistol and spent casings Egan gave him as planted evidence against Kalin. Old Porch then calls Kevin Moffet, falsely tells him that Kalin killed Russel, Landry, and a ranger, and persuades the departing pilot to fly him and the boys over the new resort land by promising cash and a share of a supposed bounty.

On the far side of Katanogos, Egan, Hatch, Kelly, and Billings search by snowmobile. Egan spots Landry alone on a high snowy perch, aims his Winchester, and shoots her. Billings confirms that the shot struck her, after which she and the surrounding snow disappear in an avalanche. When Hatch reacts in horror and threatens Egan, Egan, Kelly, and Billings deny that a shot occurred and pressure Hatch into backing down. Old Porch then reaches them by radio from the helicopter and reports that he has seen Kalin with the horses descending Coyote Gulch toward Pillars Meadow.

From the helicopter, Old Porch sees Kalin riding Navidad and leading Mouse and Jojo but does not see Landry. He prevents Kevin Moffet from immediately contacting police by inventing a bounty and directs the pilot to fly ahead and circle back toward Pillars Meadow. Woolsey notices strange shadows moving around Kalin. The chapter ends with the Porches converging on the same meadow toward which Kalin is descending.

Kalin watches Landry fall after the shot and then disappear when the snow beneath her gives way. He does not know whether she is alive, but Tom warns that the shooter can now locate him as well. Kalin gets the horses moving and chooses Coyote Gulch because it is the quickest route to the Crossing and will also let him circle back toward the base of the cliffs to search for Landry. Tom urges him to escape north into the forest instead. A helicopter passes overhead, confirming to Kalin that the Porches are still tracking him.

As they descend, Kalin is physically exhausted, still recovering from food poisoning, and increasingly overwhelmed by grief. Through Tom, Pia Isan warns that the dead trust only the horses. Tom also tells Kalin the story of Navidad: Old Porch scarred her with barbed wire, Mouse gave her companionship, and Kalin's presence gave her room to act without being forced. Her survival through the rockfall and headwall becomes an expression of her own agency, but Tom warns that Kalin's growing burden is now weighing on her. Kalin recognizes that he is moving toward a confrontation even though Tom keeps insisting that other choices remain.

Near Pillars Meadow, Kalin scouts the old gateposts that mark the Crossing, feeds the horses, removes the remaining shoes from Mouse and Navidad, and decides he will never ride Navidad again. He intends to lead the horses beyond the old fence line and then return for Landry. On a second reconnaissance he discovers the helicopter parked near the meadow and then sees ten men approaching along the creek bed. He recognizes Old Porch and Egan among them.

Tom urges Kalin to turn back and warns that the men will kill him. Kalin considers the possibility of simply sending the horses out unarmed, but concludes that Old Porch will slaughter them if he gets the chance. He says he will see Navidad and Mouse set free even if it costs him his life. After saying goodbye to Jojo, Mouse, and Navidad, Kalin reaches into Landry's saddlebag and takes out Old Porch's 1873 Colt Single Action Army Peacemaker. The chapter ends before any confrontation begins.

At Pillars Meadow, Kalin studies and loads Landry's Colt Peacemaker, while Navidad, Mouse, and Jojo recoil from him. He asks Tom to ride ahead toward the Crossing on Ash, then strips off his clothes, retaining his boots and Stetson, and approaches the armed Porch party leading the three horses with his hands raised. The Porches mistake his apparent surrender for helplessness. Elsewhere, Lindsey Holt offers Allison a dollar and an apology at his family's store. Allison and Sondra then discuss their children, loss, faith, and their differing understandings of family near Mud Lake. Meanwhile, the expanding search operation concentrates on Kirk's Cirque and fails to recognize the Porch party at Pillars Meadow.

Old Porch, determined to frame Kalin for the ranger's death, shoots helicopter pilot Kevin Moffet when Kevin proposes radioing the apparent surrender to the authorities. Old Porch falsely claims that Kalin killed him, and Egan and Billings support the lie despite Hatch's objections. Kalin keeps advancing. Old Porch offers Kalin the stolen Smith & Wesson while insisting on control of the confrontation, then threatens Navidad with his shotgun. Kalin uses leather strips attached to his wrists and fingers to conceal and release the Peacemaker, catches it, and shoots Old Porch in the abdomen. Kalin then shoots Egan, Kelly, Sean, Billings, and Shelly in rapid succession. Kelly accidentally shoots Francis, Billings wounds Kalin severely through his right side, and Shelly shoots Woolsey, who later dies. Hatch falls without firing, then tries to arrest Kalin; Kalin agrees to submit after delivering Navidad and Mouse to the Crossing. Hatch admits witnessing Egan shoot Landry and begins questioning Old Porch's account of Russel's death.

Despite his gunshot wound, Kalin retrieves Navidad and Mouse and leads them through the old gateposts, removes their halters, and watches them depart freely, though they avoid his touch. Old Porch shoots Hatch in the back after Hatch challenges him. Kalin returns and Old Porch fires the remaining rounds of the stolen Smith & Wesson at him, missing every time. Kalin cuffs and hog-ties Old Porch, leaving him alive. Back at the Crossing, Kalin tends his wound with supplies from Jojo's saddlebag. Tom sees the dead passing through the gateposts and is horrified to recognize Russel riding Cavalry toward Old Porch, with Pia Isan having handed Russel an ax-head. Kalin walks through the gateposts alongside Tom and Ash; Tom then departs and disappears. Wanting to reach the place where Landry lies buried, Kalin persuades Jojo to let him mount, but Jojo bucks him into the mud and then urinates and defecates on him.

Landry recounts how she survived Egan's shot and the fall from the ridge. The bullet passed through her cheeks without striking her tongue or skull, and she landed in snow against trees and roots above a steep drop. Initially frightened and unable to move, she recovers her resolve by attending to the surrounding landscape and a red squirrel, then climbs back up using the tree and rock face. Finding Kalin and the horses gone, she follows their tracks down Coyote Gulch, increasingly concerned that they have left her behind.

Landry hears a horse in the trees and finds Jojo, still saddled. She discovers that the Colt Peacemaker is missing from his saddlebag and rides cautiously into Pillars Meadow. There she finds the bodies of the Porches and Billings, then Old Porch alive but wounded, cuffed and hog-tied. He directs her toward the Crossing, where she discovers Kalin lying critically injured in the mud. Landry tends him as best she can and tries unsuccessfully to help him mount Jojo, who recoils from Kalin. After speaking firmly to Jojo and lowering him so Kalin can climb into the saddle, she uses lead ropes and a belt to secure Kalin in place while she rides in front of him.

They leave Pillars Meadow as temperatures fall. Landry guides Jojo along snowmobile tracks through the mountains, alternating between faster stretches and slower movement through snow. She does not stop at the helicopter or snowmobiles, concentrating instead on reaching lower ground before the high elevations freeze. When Kalin begins to lose consciousness and his grip loosens, Landry uses a switch to strike him, not Jojo, compelling him to remain responsive. Under bright moonlight they descend toward Shadow's Glen and take the Heathen-Slade Canyon Trail past the former mental institution. Despite icy conditions and Kalin's worsening state, Jojo maintains his footing and carries them out of the canyon toward Orvop. The chapter ends with Jojo galloping onto the hospital grounds, up the ramp and through the trauma center's sliding glass doors, carrying Landry and the barely responsive Kalin into the entrance area.